GameStop Shutting Up Shops

Yup, it's GameStop 3.0 FFS

GameStop CEO Paul Raines has been to a rebranding course and has decided that, "GameStop 3.0" is the way to go as he and his team close 120 game stores.

Is this because the company can see how the winds of trade are blowing? Well, gusting towards digital only? Possibly, seeing as it's also doubling number of Spring Mobile, Simply Mac locations in current fiscal year.

According to GI.Biz, "GameStop expects the console gaming space to total $18 billion by the end of 2015, but the specialty retailer has its eyes set on markets much bigger than that.:

Bigger than $18billion? Let's have a look at this.

"In the current fiscal year, GameStop plans to open between 200 and 250 Spring Mobile stores, more than doubling the 164 locations it had last year. Simply Mac will see another 20-25 stores added in markets underserved by Apple's own retail chain, bolstering its 23 existing stores. Meanwhile, GameStop is expecting to add another 100 to 150 Cricket locations to the 31 it was running at the end of its last fiscal year, potentially quintupling its footprint in the pre-paid wireless market. Between all its stores, Raines said GameStop is already the third-largest and fastest-growing AT&T retailer in the US.

"At the same time GameStop is pushing into these new fields, the company plans to scale back its gaming operations slightly. In the current fiscal year, the company expects to shut somewhere between 120 and 130 of its 6,457 gaming retail locations worldwide."

With the corporates shutting up shop, let's hope we see a rise in Indie video game shops with people who know what they're talking about.

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